


get out of my school

by CabbageLord



Category: Final Fantasy XIII, Final Fantasy XIII Series, Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Aged Down Characters, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, And Vanille only shows up in one scene so that’s why she’s not being tagged, F/M, Fang can be helpful, For lightis week on tumblr, Implied Snerah, Lightning is an absolute disaster, Misunderstandings, Not Beta Read, Notes, The Chocobros are only mentioned, implied fanille, only by a few years
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-18
Updated: 2020-09-18
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:40:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26530792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CabbageLord/pseuds/CabbageLord
Summary: Lightning has a crush. She writes a note. There’s a little misunderstanding but in the end everything turns out pretty okay.
Relationships: Noctis Lucis Caelum/Lightning
Comments: 6
Kudos: 23





	get out of my school

**Author's Note:**

> Written for day 3 of lightis week, I’m really glad to have been able to finish this on time!   
> Warning that there are definitely more than a few mistakes, I apologize. But either way I hope a couple of you will enjoy!

As the teacher drones on and on about some stupid equations she couldn’t be bothered to pay attention to, Lightning looks down, twirling a pen in one hand and propping her cheek in the other. Draped over her notes and textbook was a small, singular piece of paper. 

It’s hard enough to be vocal about what she wants, but she had no idea it would be just as hard to write down your thoughts. If Serah could see her now, she’d probably say something along the lines of “ _ Write what you feel in your heart, sis! Close your eyes and your pen will do the rest! _ ” Tch. That’s easy for her to say…

This is so fucking stupid. Writing love letters to your crush looks so easy in the movies! Girls are all mushy talking about how they wanna hold hands and kiss and go on dates with the boys they like. Ugh, Lightning would rather die than write something so sweet. It’s...embarrassing.

Besides, if she did go down that route, would he even know it was from her instead of some other girl? It’s a bit silly. Her having this dumb crush on someone a grade below her…

Not like she could help it, Noctis Lucis Caelum had a certain...charm to him. He made her crack a smile sometimes during PE, he was a complete dork when he was around his little group of friends, and not to mention he was actually pretty damn smart. Of course, he’s also really handsome, which was just a bonus.

Sometimes when he talks to her, he gets a little awkward, goes a little red in the face...she doesn’t admit it out loud, but it’s cute. 

Not the type of cute like when little Hope stands on his tiptoes to get something off the counter when she babysits him, or the type of cute like when Serah does this adorable pout when being told she can’t stay up an extra hour on a school night. 

This type of cute makes her feel all warm and fuzzy inside, with these butterflies in her stomach. It’s so bizarre how a doofus like him can make her feel like this. She suppresses a groan as to not disturb the class. Stupid Noctis. Stupid feelings. Things were so much easier when all she had to think about were her studies and taking care of Serah. Now her mind is plagued with thoughts of a damn boy.

Fang hadn’t been much help at first with this either. Her closest friend, the only one she’s told about her little crush, merely laughed her ass off when Lightning had told her in an empty school bathroom. 

* * *

“ _What a riot! Here I was worrying that sunshine would stay single forever, but who would have thought you were out here making googly eyes at Noctis of all people!” She laughs, smiling through the pain when Lightning punches her in the shoulder._

“ _You shut up. I don’t need you laughing when I’m already embarrassed enough as it is.” Lightning grumbles, crossing her arms with an all too familiar scowl most of the school has long since been familiar with. Knowing she’s safe from any more of Light’s wrath, Fang lets out a few more obnoxiously fake bouts of laughter just to add salt to the wound._

“ _Okay, okay, I’m done now. But...wow. Noctis?” Fang leans back against the tiled walls, and Lightning doesn’t have it in her to tell Fang to stand straight because_ _**god** were those walls dirty.  _

“ _It’s so weird to think about you doing such...romantic things with anybody.”_

“ _Funny, I thought the same thing about you, but then you and Vanille snuck out and got matching tattoos. I should totally report you for that.” They both know she won’t._

“ _What we have is true love, Sunshine. And if you want a taste of what we got, you better make quick work in snatching up your prince charming before someone else comes along.”_

“ _See, that’s the thing, I don’t know how to do that. In case you weren’t aware, I’m new to this.” Lightning snaps. She doesn’t mean to be so on edge, this shit is just making her nervous._

_ Good ‘ol Fang doesn’t take any offense. She merely hums and taps her chin in thought. _

“ _How about writing a note?” She suggests. It makes Lightning pause, and tilt her head. A note?_

_ A little cliche, but not a bad idea. She won’t have to talk to Noctis face to face like this, she can just slip it on into his locker and leave. If he returns her feelings, that’s great, more than great. But if he doesn’t, then he can just avoid her and the two of them can act like they never knew each other. That’s...not so great.  _

“ _I guess it’s worth a shot.” Lightning shrugs._

_ Fang cheers. _

“ _Damn, just like that? I’m such an awesome friend, I should give advice more often!”_

_ Lightning doesn’t have the heart to say otherwise, too occupied with thinking of what to write down. She’s so absorbed in the possibilities, she lets Fang grab her wrist and yank her along when the bell for class rings.  _

* * *

‘ _ I really shouldn’t have taken any of her advice.’  _ Lightning begins to pack her things when the final bell rings. She didn’t manage to write anything down, and after almost getting caught by the teacher, she had to put it off for now so she could catch up in taking actual academic notes.

Now the day is over, and Lightning figures it would be better doing this at home. Which she should have thought of from the start.

As she exits the classroom, Lightning immediately bumps into another person. She steels herself and manages to keep her balance, but the other person falls back straight on their ass. Passing students look for moments, before they continue on in going to their after school clubs, or heading home. 

“Well, that’s one way to say hello to someone, I guess.” The person laughs, picking themselves up, and Lightning has to will her heart to stop beating so damn fast, what if he fucking hears-

“Uh, Light? You good?” A hand waves in front of her face, and Lightning blinks, meeting Noctis’ gaze. When he realizes he has her attention, he pulls back with a smile that shouldn’t look so cute.

“Hey.” He simply greets, shoving his hands into his pockets. What a nice conversation starter. Lightning takes an all too familiar route and plays it cool.

“Hey yourself.” She responds. “So, what’s got you running around in a hurry? Sorry about...knocking you on your ass by the way.”

“Eh, don’t worry about it. Gladio tosses me on my ass all the time so I’m used to it. “ He laughs, and Lightning wants to hear it again. “And actually I was really hoping to find you before you went home.” Oh? He was looking for her?

Noctis fishes around in his pocket for a second, pulling out a folded up piece of paper. He holds it up for her to take from him. Lightning tries not to let the surprise she feels show on her face as she takes it. 

A note? Is this a note? A note from Noctis? 

“See, Ignis and your sister are pretty good friends, and apparently she wanted a recipe of his so Ignis wrote it down for her. I’m his delivery boy.” Lightning tries not to let the disappointment get to her. She shouldn’t jump to conclusions, damn you Noctis for making her like this. Of course he wouldn’t write a note for her. 

“Ah, I’ll make sure she gets this then. She’ll be really happy.” Lightning can perfectly imagine the excited smile Serah would have when presented with the recipe. Lightning doesn’t know what it is, but if it comes from the mind of Ignis, and it’s made with love from Serah’s skilled hands, it’s bound to taste delicious. 

“I don’t know why you wanted to find me though. You could have gone to give it to her yourself.” It wouldn’t be too hard to find the only other student with pink hair on campus. 

Noctis jolts like he’s been caught, and immediately starts looking anywhere that wasn’t her.

“Uh-well-you know, I, uh…” He nervously rubs the back of his neck, going silent for a second before giving her an answer, speaking a bit too quick. 

“I mean, I know how protective you can be when it comes to Serah. I wouldn’t want you to get the wrong idea and beat my ass if you saw me talking to her.”

Lightning slips the recipe into her bag. If it were any other person, aka a whole ass stranger who was being weird with Serah, then yeah, Lightning would knock their teeth in.

“You know I trust you though, right? If I saw you talking to Serah, I wouldn’t mind.”

Noctis shuffles, looking down at the dirty hallway floors. His hair obscures his eyes, and if Lightning were a weaker person, she would give in to temptation and brush it away with her fingers. 

“Of course I know that. It’s just...I really wanted to-“ A familiar tune bursts from Noctis’ pocket. He curses and fishes out his phone. When he sees who’s calling him, he sighs and offers a wave at the older girl.

“Guess I’ll see you later then, Light.”

“Yeah.”

Lightning doesn’t wave, just watches as Noctis answers his phone and puts it to his ear, turning and rushing off.

“Way to call at the wrong moment, Prompto! I told you just five minutes!” She can hear him shout through gritted teeth.

A beat of silence before Lightning huffs in amusement and turns in the opposite direction. She kept her baby sister waiting long enough. 

As usual, Serah is waiting in front of the school for her, sitting on a bench, kicking her legs back and forth while she reads her history textbook. She looks completely absorbed with it, but when she hears footsteps and looks up, she smiles brightly at the sight of her elder sister.

“Lightning!” Serah calls and shoves her book back into her bag before hopping off the bench and running to meet Lightning halfway. Though her journey is stopped abruptly when there’s a paper shoved in her face.

“Here, a little something from Ignis.”

Serah plucks the paper from her sister, and skims over it, squealing when she finally realizes what it is.

“Ahh, I didn’t think he’d actually write it down for me!” She gushes. Serah skips to Lightning’s side and loops their arms together. Lightning looks around to make sure no one is watching before she relaxes and allows herself to be pulled along. 

“Hey, can we stop at the market on our way home? I need to buy a couple things so I can cook the dish Iggy wrote me.”

“That’s what you wanna spend your allowance that Uncle Amodar gave you on?”

“You’re judging me hard right now, but just you wait, you’re gonna love what I cook tonight!” 

* * *

The walk to the market and then home is uneventful, and Lightning’s entertainment comes in the form of listening to Serah talk about her day. She passed her math test with flying colors, helped a new student find their classes, witnessed someone play a prank on her biology teacher, etc., etc. 

Though Lightning did roll her eyes when Serah began to gush over that tall blonde guy she had a crush on. Something about him helping her reach for a book in the library because she was too short to do it. Apparently he was really nice too, and got all flustered when Serah had playfully called him her hero. Ugh. 

Anyways, once they’re home in their tiny two bedroom apartment, the two sisters sit in the living room doing their respective homework until Serah gets up to cook. Even though she wasn’t finished, Lightning’s mouth was watering just from the smells alone. 

And when the food is finally done, Lightning tries not to inhale her dinner all in one go. The food was so tasty, if Lightning was a more openly emotional person, she might have weeped. In her mind, she praised both Ignis and Serah for their great minds coming together to create this dish. 

Serah ends up taking a shower first when dinner is finally done, and per the usual routine, Lightning collects and washes the dishes, cleaning up any other little messes Serah may have forgotten about while cooking so they don’t attract any bugs. After, the elder Farron takes her things from the living room and retreats to her bedroom.

Now she has the peace and quiet she needs. Sitting at her desk, Lightning turns on her lamp and takes another slip of paper and a pen from her bag. 

She hasn’t given much thought over what to write while home, so she’s still deep in square one. One thing is for sure though, she will not write something overly long and gushy. It’s embarrassing, and frankly, it just isn’t her. 

Something nice and simple will do the trick. 

Nice and simple...easier said than done. Lightning sighs and leans back in her chair, closing her eyes.

Lightning rewinds her day a bit, and thinks back to her encounter with Noctis in the halls. It would have gone on longer had Prompto not called. Though Lightning wonders how long she herself would have been able to last before she would have to leave. 

Truth be told, Lightning was a little worried when she first began to feel these new things. The frantic beating of her heart, the butterflies in her stomach, the clammy hands. She thought she was sick, and ended up staying home from school for a couple days. When she came back though, thinking she was finally better, it all immediately started up again when Noctis had come up to her, worried because he hadn’t seen her around the last couple days, and asked if she was doing okay.

It was strange that she usually felt like that whenever Noctis was around her. At first, she thought he may have done something to her, but because she knew him well enough, that definitely wasn’t the case. She only found out what this all meant by looking up her symptoms on the internet. At least she wasn’t dying. But this only left her with another problem that sometimes made her think that perhaps dying wouldn’t have been so bad.

Sometimes she hates feeling like that. One of these days, she’s going to fuck something up and look ridiculous, and Noctis isn’t going to want to talk to her anymore, which is such a shitty thing to think about, because Noctis is a great guy. Lightning doesn’t have many of them, but Noctis is someone she wholeheartedly considers a friend. A dear friend at that. 

If only Noctis was never around, then she wouldn’t be feeling like this. It’s such a new feeling, being in love. Maybe if Noctis left, she would forget about him and go back to normal. She’d stop being in love and move on, her only goal in mind making sure Serah grows up happy and healthy. 

Lightning finally opens her eyes, and sits back up in her chair. Grabbing her pen, she impulsively writes down the first thing that comes to mind.

There. Simple and to the point.

* * *

As usual, Noctis is one of the first to finish his assignments in class, and rather than sit and wait for everyone else to complete their work, he asks to be excused to go to the bathroom. 

Of course, rather than actually go, he’s just gonna walk around the halls, maybe play a game of King’s Knight on his phone. Oh, but the sound might attract unwanted attention and he could get in trouble. Thank god he brought his earbuds with him today. A quick trip to his locker to fetch them, and then it’s King’s Knight time. 

A couple turns, ducking behind a trash can to avoid catching a teacher’s attention, and bada bing bada boom he’s at his locker. _8-7-15_ is spun into the lock before he can get it open. 

What catches his attention first aren’t the tangled up black earbuds, rather, a single slip of folded paper that falls out, landing with a tiny _plat_ on the floor. Noctis stares at it for a good second before picking it up. He doesn’t remember having this, was it a reminder to himself for a class or something? 

Curious, he opens the note, reading the short sentence printed right at the very center.

_ ‘Get out of my school.’ _

Harsh. There’s no name on it either. At first, Noctis is a little amused by the innocently threatening note. But his heart sinks when realizing there’s only one person who could ever be this blunt with him. 

Ah. He really did read everything all wrong then.

* * *

All morning, Lightning was a nervous wreck. To the blind eye, you couldn’t exactly tell, but just one look down at her furiously bouncing leg, and you’d get it. 

She did it. She wrote the stupid note. Made Serah get up earlier than usual so they can make it to school a few minutes early. Serah parted ways with her when seeing her friends, which was fine by her because she had a mission she needed to execute before someone saw her. She had to rewrite it a couple times, but by the time she went to sleep, the note was satisfactory enough for her to use.

It was much easier than she had anticipated. She managed to deliver the note without being caught and spent the rest of her free time in the library waiting for class to start.

Now, she’s regretting all of her decisions. It really was a stupid idea, she hopes Noctis hasn’t seen it yet. And if he has, she hopes he doesn’t find out it’s from her. Perhaps he’ll think it’s from somebody else, someone that’s not her. Maybe he’ll just toss it and go on with his day. She would prefer he do that. Now that the deed is done, Lightning realizes she would have preferred keeping her feelings hidden, and never having Noct find out about them. 

It’s not until lunch rolls around that she gets results. As she stands around in the halls waiting for Fang to meet up with her, she hears an all too familiar voice shout her name, making her body stiffen, a young childish part of her thinking that if she stays still, maybe she won’t be seen.

But the stupid, stupid, stupid gods hate her, and seconds tick by before Noctis is standing behind her. Rather than be a coward, Lightning takes a breath and turns to meet Noctis’ gaze.

By now, the halls were close to empty, other students hanging out outside or in the cafeteria. They were as close as could be to being alone.

“Hey.” She greets, trying not to let anything show. Noctis stares at her, an expression she can’t properly identify on his face.

“Hey yourself.” He eventually greets back. Lightning briefly thinks back to the beginning of their last exchange, and huffs out a small laugh. Going good so far. Maybe he hasn’t seen the note yet.

“Oh, the recipe Ignis gave to my sister came out great. If you could, tell him she appreciated it?” 

“Y-yeah, no problem.” A beat of silence. Noctis shuffles around awkwardly. It’s clear he has something to say. Lightning isn’t sure she wants to know what it is.

Noctis takes a deep breath.

“Hey, so...do I make you uncomfortable? I’m sorry if I do.”

What?

“What?” Lightning asks.

Noctis rubs the back of his neck, averting his gaze.

“I mean, I noticed how awkward you’d get around me sometimes. And that’s saying something, because you’re usually so cool and collected. A bit quick to anger sometimes, but I never minded because you’re just so—“ He trails off and sighs.

Again, what?

“I dunno. You’d act so different around me, and I guess I was a little too dumb to realize rather than it being something else, you just didn’t like me being around you.”

Something else? Wait, what the hell is going on? 

“I was pretty stupid, thinking you had felt the same way I did. I probably came on a little too strong, and I’m really sorry if that’s the case, but if I did, I’m really sorry. At the very least I would like to continue being friends with you but if not I get it-“

Lightning holds up her hand, a sign for him to stop his rambling, and Noctis’ mouth snaps shut. Hang on just a second. Lightning really just...needs a second to process just what’s going on. 

“Noctis, what the hell are you talking about?” Lightning has never felt more confused than she does now.

Noctis blinks, waits a second, before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small slip of paper. A very familiar piece of paper. Lightning feels herself tense as it all comes crashing down on her. He did read it…

“Ah, the note you left in my locker.” Noctis confesses. He looks down at the paper, rereading what was written down...and his expression shifts into one akin to a kicked puppy’s. 

“You’re not the type to sugar coat things, so I knew it had to have been from you.” He knows her so well. 

If he did read the note, then why does he look so rejected? What was wrong with what she had written down? Isn’t what she wrote the type of stuff that girls usually write? She was so sure she had done everything right.

“I mean ‘ _get out of my school_ ’ is a little harsh, not gonna lie, but it’s so you that it’s hard to even be mad. A little depressed? Yeah, but, it’s totally something you would write. Simple and to the point.” Noctis laughs, but there isn’t a hint of mirth detected anywhere.

Lightning feels her blood run cold. Oh. Oh no, she’s a fucking idiot. She is so dumb. A moron. A dumbass. She fucked up so bad.

“Noctis, I-“

“But listen, if that’s what you want, I’ll stay away.”

“Hang on, that’s not-“

“I mean, kinda can’t transfer schools during this time of the year. But keeping my distance shouldn’t be too hard.” Noctis laughs again. 

Lightning quickly begins to shuffle around in her bag through her mess of papers and books. How could she be so stupid...not double checking what she was putting in his locker. He thinks she hates him, when that couldn’t be more far from the truth. 

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone about this, I’ll even throw away the-“

“N-Noctis.”

Noctis immediately stops talking. Was that...was that a stutter he just heard? From Lightning? 

It’s then he realizes her holding out another piece of paper to him. Face red up to the tips of her ears. That’s something he’s never seen before either. A blush? On Lightning? Had this been under better circumstances, Noctis would have clutched his heart, kneel over, and die on the spot, because it’s just not fair how cute she can be.

“The note you have, that’s the wrong one.”

What was that? Noctis glances at the note Lightning has presented to him, before looking back at the one he had, then back at the one Lightning had.

“Huh?”

“I gave you the wrong note. Take it.” She shakes her hand. Noctis hesitates, but soon relents, and reaches out with a tentative hand to take the piece of paper offered to him.

With shaking fingers, he unfolds the paper, wondering how much worse it could be than ‘get out of my school’ but his breath only hitches as his eyes scan over the three words he’s only dreamed about ever coming from Lightning.

_ ‘I like you.’ _

“...Huh.”

Like a cat, Lightning’s hackles rise.

“Huh? I put my feelings down on paper, spend my entire morning nervous as shit, and all you have to say is ‘huh’?”

Though she knew she wasn’t being fair. She literally gave him the wrong note that made him think she didn’t like him. This whole mix up is 100% her fault. 

“I really thought…” Noctis trails off, rereading the note to make sure he wasn’t imagining things.

Imagine Lightning’s surprise, when Noctis suddenly lets out a relieved sigh, and squats down.

“I thought...I really thought you hated me!” Noctis groans, running his fingers through his hair. He feels like he just ran a damn marathon. He just needs a second to catch his breath.

Lightning, still red in the face, grumbles and crosses her arms, lips pursed in what could almost be a pout and Noctis wants to die.

“Someone like you is really hard to hate. Trust me, I tried.” 

It all finally clicks, and Noctis jumps up. 

“You like me? Holy shit. You like me!”

“Well, yeah…” Lightning looks away, trying to school her expression into something a little more neutral. 

“I mean, that’s how I feel. It’s cool if you don’t feel the same, I wouldn’t mind us still being friends.”

Whoa whoa whoa. Noctis puts his hands on Lightning’s shoulders, and had it been anyone else, she would kick where the sun doesn’t shine, but since it’s Noctis, she easily moves when he turns her to face him.

“I like you! I really, really like you!” His face burns as he confesses, but he doesn’t care. He, Noctis Lucis Caelum, likes Lightning Farron. Ever since he was hit with her right hook during an argument they had when they barely knew each other, he was smitten. That shit awoke something in him and he wanted to get to know her better, and he was glad he did. All the teasing he endured from his friends has prepared him for this very moment. Not really, actually he’s still a little nervous.

Light’s pretty blue eyes widen, and the fading blush on her cheeks once again deepens as she realizes that her feelings were actually reciprocated. The feelings were mutual between them, and Lightning doesn’t know what to do now, other than to look down so Noctis couldn’t see her face.

“That’s...really great.” She murmurs. She tries to fight it, but her body wins, and her lips curl up in a soft smile. All that worrying for nothing. Who would have thought Fang’s advice would work? 

Noctis, realizing he may be overstepping a boundary by touching her like this, clears his throat, and takes a step back, hands falling from her shoulders. Lightning doesn’t ask him to put them back, even though she did enjoy the feeling of his hands on her.

“So, um…” he pulls out his phone, offering Lightning a sheepish smile, “can I have your number?” 

Lightning acts quickly, and slides her smartphone out of her pocket. All the times they’ve talked and hung out during school hours, but not once have they ever thought to exchange numbers. The both of them were idiots. 

Noctis looks like a child on Christmas morning when Lightning puts her number in his phone, and he does the same with hers. Lightning certainly feels that way too, as their fingers brush when she goes to take her phone back. 

“Right, so, uh, I’ll text you later? Maybe we can talk about doing something on the weekend.”

That sounds like a great plan. Lightning doesn’t say so though, just offers a small smile and a nod. It does the trick in making Noct’s smile grow, and he nods before he turns and rushes off to meet up with his friends for lunch. 

That all went better than she had expected. At the end at least. The beginning of their conversation was a whole mess.   


Lightning really didn’t mean to leave that note for him. It was the first note she had written down, and for a second, she thought it would be acceptable, but then she realized it was a bit too mean so she ended up writing down a couple more. She should have thrown away the rejects instead of stuffing them all in her bag but, oh well... she’s too happy right now to beat herself up over such a stupid mistake.

Now all that’s left to do is wait for him to text her. That sounds simple enough.

Taking a step back before she turns, amidst her excited thoughts of Noctis actually liking her back, Lightning briefly wonders where the hell Fang had gone off to. Not once did she see her in the halls to meet up for lunch.

Lightning doesn’t have to wonder long, and it’s the sound of slow clapping that makes her stop in her tracks. There, in all her cocky glory, stood Oerba Yun Fang, clapping her hands as if she just watched the finest stage play. And of course, right beside her was Vanille, shaking with excitement and looking like the slightest touch could set her off in an explosion of squeals and congratulations and offers to help her think of date plans. 

“Damn. Who woulda thought my advice would help you snag yourself a boy. You kinda fucked up a bit in the beginning but you got there in the end.” It’s Fang’s own way of telling her good job, smirk and all.

“Wouldn’t have gotten here if it wasn’t for you so thanks. I guess.” Lightning sincerely means it. 

“Really still can’t believe my advice worked. Maybe I should try helping out your sister next.”

“Yep, and you ruined it, I’m going to the cafeteria without you two.”

* * *

That night, as Lightning lay curled up in bed, scrolling through her phone, she gets a notification. It’s a text. From Noctis.

‘ _Just making sure this works so...hey :)’_

Lightning laughs softly at the cute little smiley that he added at the end. She doesn’t even need to think twice before her thumbs type out a reply on their own.

‘ _Hey yourself’_

**Author's Note:**

> In celebration of Lightis week! Pls go check out @lightisdays2k on tumblr if you wanna see the amazing works other people have submitted!


End file.
